Kappe Studio, Topanga, Calif., was commissioned to design and build a new 5,500- square-foot (511-m2) home on the California hillside overlooking Beverly Hills and the canyon below.
“Initial meetings with the clients lead to the expression of two main architectural desires,” said Finn Kappe, principal, Kappe Studio. “First, a minimal, clean modern box that opened to the dramatic views and surrounding nature of the canyon was requested. Then, a more mysterious, less rational play was encouraged. What evolved was a house that strives to find balance between two forms with differing natures-a long, glassy rectangle interacting with a curving, leaning form of complex definition.”
Kappe used 2,000 square feet (186 m2) of 0.04-inch (1-mm) 20-gauge Preweathered RHEINZINK Flat Lock Tile to accomplish the design objectives.
“RHEINZINK is the only material we found that has both a warm and a cool-gray tone, giving it an almost organic feel visually,” Kappe said. “RHEINZINK’s sustainability and environ-exterior environments.”
According to Kappe, metal was chosen for a few reasons. “The owner really liked metals, and often the palette comes from the owners’ preferences and then we work with those preferences to express the architecture the best that we can. Behind the metal wall are the private spaces of the home, the master bedroom, etc., where there’s a bit of protection to it, in contrast to the open glass. [The metal] maximizes the contrast between the open glass. Also, the compound curvatures are most suited to metal, which can conform to those shapes.”
This five bedroom, four-bath residence has won the Metal Architecture Design Award for Best Overall Design.
“The selection of metal panels for the skin of this house helps define the rounded forms and incorporate interesting fenestration details,” said Design Awards judge Mark Dewalt. “It is also a material that is very compatible with the other building material selected, filling the gap between the rustic concrete and the smooth glass.”
Judge Ron McKenzie said: “The use of RHEINZINK Preweathered Flat Lock Tile as a design element to a very careful massing of the residence and a carefully articulated site plan makes for a very powerful design solution for this residence that overlooks Beverly Hills.”
Beverly Hills Residence, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Architect/general contractor: Kappe Studio, Topanga, Calif., www.kappestudio.com
Metal installer: Advanced Roofing Technology, Costa Mesa, Calif.,
(949) 436-0334
Metal panels: RHEINZINK America Inc., Cambridge, Mass., www.rheinzink.com
